Apparatus for half-soling shoes



June 1940. w. LOOKOFSKY APPARATUS FOR IIALF-SOLING sao'Es Filed Sept. 2, 1938 FIG INVENTOR WALTER LOOKOFSKY BY ATTORNEY Patented June 18, 1940 UNITED s'rArEs OFFICE 7 Claims.

The invention relates to the art of half-solin shoes and consists in all the novel features of the apparatus described below and the novel steps in half-soling shoes involved in the use of the apparatus.

It is customary in half-soling shoes to cut away the forward portion of the sole, retaining the rear portion thereof which comprises the outsole shank, skiving the forward edge of the latter, skiving the rear edge of the tap or half sole to be applied to the shoe, and nailing the skived edges of the outsole shank and half sole together, the shoe being placed over a jack forming an anvil for the nailing operation. The remainder of the half sole may be secured to the upper by nailing, stitching or cementing. In this connection I refer to the welt, if present, as part of the shoe upper. Irrespective of the manner in which the shoe sole was attached to the shoe upper, the nailed joint across its rear end was unsightly and rendered very obvious the fact that the shoe had been half soled.

The main object of the present invention is to half-sole a shoe, and particularly a shoe in which the half sole is stitched to the upper, so that the joint between the shank and half sole will be invisible and the finished job will have the appearance of a complete sole. This and other detailed objectsof the invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which:

7 Figure l is a top view of the apparatus used in the half-soling operation of a shoe, a half sole being shown applied to one part of the apparatus;

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the structure shown in Figure l, a portion being sectioned on the line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a transverse section taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2, and

Figure 4 is a detailed top view of a heater member used in the apparatus, and as taken approximately on. the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

The de ice includes a frame having a base l, upright sides 2 and a top bar 3 extending from one upright 2 to the other upright. Intermediate base I and top bar 3 is a bridge like plate member 8, having a handle 9. A rod it is slidably mounted in bracket 6 and its upper end shaped to engage cam 6. A pressure block ll is correlated with plate A and has a lost motion connection to rod l8 consisting of a bolt or pin it seated in the lower end of rod it and passing through upright slots it in sleeve M on block H. A coil spring I5 is seated on the upper end of sleeve I4 and a downwardly facing shoulder 58 provided on rod it. A substantially weaker coil spring l? is seated on a portion of bracket (i and yieldingly supports rod lil.

By manipulating cam 8, rod i i and block ll may be moved from the spring supported elevated position shown in the right hand portion of Figure 2 to the lowered functioning position shown in the left hand portion of Figure 2 and in Figure 3. p

In using the device the shoe outsole shank S is freed from the shoe upper U, including the welt and, preferably, the insole, for a short distance rearwardly of its forward edge. This edge is skived in the usual manner. Cement is applied to the skived portion of the outsole shank and to the corresponding portion of the half sole H. The shoe is applied to the device by laying the end portion of the outsole shank over plate 4, the forward portion of the shoe upper being passed beneath the plate. The half sole is then laid over plate 3 with its skived portion overlapping the skived portion of the outsole shank. Cam 3 is then moved to thrust rod it! and block ll towards plate l, thereby clamping the skived edges of the sole and half sole tog-ether.

When the cement has set, the shoe with tap attached is removed from the device and the tap trimmed accurately to the contour of the shoe and then secured to the upper. As the tap is securely held in position by its. cemented joint during the trimming operation there will be no slippage across the shoe resulting in an irregularly trimmed sole or other difliculties likely to occur in the usual. process in which the tap is trimmed before being secured to the shoe. If the skiving has been done neatly the joint between the half sole and the outsole shank will scarcely be noticeable, particularly if the exposed surface is burnished as is customary in finishing a repair job of this type. In any event there will be no unsightly row of nails across the bottom of the shoe to mar its appearance.

Preferably it is desired to accelerate the halfsoling operation by applying heat to the cemented joint to facilitate drying and setting of the cement. .This is accomplished by attaching a flat saucer-like housing 8 to the bottom of plate 4 and enclosing a fiat electric heating element [9 Within the space between the plate and housing. The heating element may be connected by suitable wiring 20 for its source of supply, having a control switch which may be turned on and off as desired. Preferably a lamp 2| is placed in the same circuit as the heating element to afford visible indication of the fact that the heater is on.

A relatively narrow tongue 22 with its outer edge bevelled is formed on plate 4 and may be inserted under the shank and between the lines of stitches to extend the support for the shank towards the heel of the shoe rearwardly of the end of the tap without cutting the stitches.

While the apparatus and method are particularly adapted for use in half-soling Goodyear welt or similar stitched shoes, it will be understood that the invention may be used to advantage in nailing and cementing half soles to the shoe upper.

It will be understood that the presence of the heating device is not essential to the invention broadly and that the arrangement of a pair of clamps is optional, as a single clamp could be used or a larger unit could be provided to ac commodate a number of pairs of shoes.

I am aware of the practice of cementing half soles to shoes by applying pressure to the hall sole and to the shoe insole by means of a last inserted in the shoe, but this is an arrangement which is not practical for use in attaching the half sole tap to the outsole shank independently of the attachment of the half sole to the shoe and, particularly, is not adapted to the repairing of stitched shoes.

Having described one embodiment of my in vention it will be obvious that details can be varied without departing from the spirit of the invention and the exclusive use of modifications as come within the scope of the claims is contemplated.

What is claimed is:

1. In a device for use in half-soling shoes, members having opposed faces arranged to receive between them the forward portion of a shoe outsole shank and the rear portion of a half sole to be joined to said shank, and means for thrusting said members towards each other to clamp said shank and half sole together, one of said members having a part thin enough to insert between the outsole shank and the adjacent portion of the upper and narrow enough to insert between the lines of stitching connecting the outsole shank and the upper,

2. In a device for use in half-soling shoes, a frame, a thin rigid plate supported by said frame in elevated position for mounting an inverted shoe with its outsole shank overlying said plate and with the stitches through said shank being at opposite sides of a narrow extension on said plate, a pressure member mounted on said frame above said plate, yielding means for thrusting said member toward said plate to clamp between them an outsole shank and a rear portion of a half sole overlapping the same, and manually operative elements for controlling the thrust means.

3. In a device for use in half-soling shoes, a frame including uprights, a thin rigid plate carried by said uprights and spaced from the bottom of said frame, there being a narrow extension projecting laterally from said plate, a pressure block opposing said plate, a manually operable cam mounted on said frame, a rod slidable in said frame and having one end engaged by said cam, and a spring seated on said block and said rod and compressed by operation of said cam to thrust said block towards said plate, said plate and block being constructed and arranged to receive between them the forward portion of a shoe outsole shank, with a portion stitched to the shoe upper and overlying said extension, and the rear portion of a half sole overlapping said outsole shank.

4. A device as described in claim 1 which also includes heating means associated with at least one of the clamping members.

5. A device as described in claim 1 which also includes means for heating the thin member inserted beneath the outsole shank.

6. A device as described in claim 1 in which a flat wide electric heating element is associated with the thin member and operable to facilitate drying a coat of cement applied to the outsole shank and the half sole.

7. In a device for use in half-soling shoes, spaced uprights adapted to receive a shoe crosswise between them, a plate mounted on said uprights and adapted to be received between the shoe upper and the shoe outsole shank, said plate having a narrow thin projection at one edge adapted to extend between the shoe outsole shank and the shoe upper intermediate the lines of stitching through the shank and upper, and

means cooperating with said plate and projection to exert pressure on the portion of a tap overlying the forward portion of said shank.

WALTER LOOKOFSKY. 

